Method and apparatus for creating, configuring and displaying a widget to display user-generated highlights

ABSTRACT

A method and system for enabling the display of portions of internet documents that have been highlighted by users of a highlighting service are disclosed. Accordingly, a highlighting service includes a web portal with a web page providing users with a snippet of code, which, when inserted into an internet document, causes the internet document to display highlights from the highlighting service. The snippet of code can be configured to query the highlighting service for highlights that were made by certain users, or, highlights made on documents from certain domains, and so forth. The code associated with the user interface object displaying the highlights can e configured to periodically query the highlighting service to retrieve up-to-date highlights, thereby dynamically changing the highlights appearing on a web page or internet document.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of the filing date of theU.S. Provisional Patent Application with Ser. No.: 60/815,467, filed onJun. 22, 2006, the contents of which are incorporated herewith.

FIELD

The present invention relates generally to web-based authoring tools.More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and systemsthat enable the display of user-highlighted portions of internetdocuments.

BACKGROUND

A wealth of information is available on the Internet, and particularlythat segment of the Internet referred to generally as the World WideWeb. However, despite vast improvements in search engines, finding theparticular information that one is interested in can still be achallenging and time-consuming task. Perhaps even more frustrating isthe lack of tools available to enable a user to retrieve previouslysearched for and discovered information. In the realm of search andretrieval, search engines aid in the search but leave much to be desiredwhen it comes to information retrieval.

One common mechanism used for information retrieval is referred togenerally as a bookmark. A bookmark is a mechanism or function enablinga user to save a copy of a uniform resource locator (URL). For example,if a user finds an article of interest at URL,http://www.interesting-article.com/article 12345.htm, the user can savethe URL as a bookmark so that at a later time the user can simply select(e.g., with a mouse or other pointing device) the bookmark to reload thedocument associated with the URL. The user might choose to categorizethe bookmarks. Traditionally, bookmarks have been facilitated by a webbrowser application and stored at the computer on which the web browserapplication resides. However, more recently online bookmarking serviceshave provided users with a way to store bookmarks online, making thebookmarks accessible from any network-connected computer.

As a means of information retrieval, bookmarks have severalshortcomings. One problem with bookmarks is they provide little, if any,explanation or context as to what it is about the associated documentthat may be significant. For instance, a bookmark simply associates aURL with a document. A user may generate a bookmark for a particular webpage because of a single passage in an article, or a particular blogentry on a web page with many blog entries. When the user retrieves theweb page at a later time by means of selecting the bookmark, the usermay not be able to remember what it is that is significant about the webpage and why he or she saved the bookmark in the beginning.

Another problem with bookmarks is that they become stale, and in somecases expire, over time. For instance, an internet document may changebetween the time that a user generates a bookmark, and then revisits theassociated web page at a later time. In some cases, a URL may expirealtogether. For example, the document associated with the URL may beremoved from the server such that the URL returns an error messageindicating the document no longer exists.

Another problem with bookmarks is they are a less than ideal mechanismfor sharing information. For example, to share information with abookmark facilitated by a web browser application, a user must generallyemail the bookmark to another user. When the recipient receives theemail including the bookmark, the user must select the link—if thebookmark is implemented as a user-selectable link—in order to initiateloading of the associated document in the user's web browserapplication. Often the bookmark is not a user-selectable link. In thiscase, the user must copy-and-paste, or type, the corresponding URL ofthe bookmark into the address bar of the web browser application. Thecopy-and-paste method sometimes does not work because of specialcharacters, such as carriage return and line feed characters, in theURL. In any case, the additional steps required to access the relevantdocument are often viewed as burdensome. Often it is only a subset ofindividuals who end up going through the process necessary to load therelevant document. When the relevant document is finally loaded into anddisplayed by the recipient's web browser, the recipient of the bookmarkmay not appreciate the relevance of the associated document.

Realizing that many email recipients will not follow embedded links,some senders have devised a strategy wherein they copy-paste therelevant portions of an internet document into the body of an email.However, this simply shifts the copy-paste workload from the recipientto the sender. Furthermore, on the receiving end, the context is lostand credibility is in doubt as to the authenticity of the pastedmaterial with respect to the original content. Thus, improved tools forinformation retrieval and collaboration are needed.

SUMMARY

A method and system for enabling the display of portions of internetdocuments that have been highlighted by users of a highlighting serviceare disclosed. Accordingly, a highlighting service includes a web pageproviding users with a mechanism: such as a snippet of code, which, wheninserted into a second internet document, causes the second internetdocument to display previously made highlights and/or comments. Thesnippet of code can be configured to query the highlighting service forhighlights that were made by certain users, or, highlights made ondocuments from certain domains, and so forth. The code associated withthe user interface object displaying the highlights can be configured toperiodically query the highlighting service to retrieve up-to-datehighlights, thereby dynamically changing the highlights appearing on aweb page or internet document.

Other aspects of the invention are described below in connection withthe description of the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate an implementation of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theadvantages and principles of the invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a computer network environmentincluding a highlighting or highlighter server, according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate data flow diagrams showing an example of thedata flow between an end-user's computing device, a highlighter server,and a content provider according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a logical block diagram showing an example of thelogical components of a highlighter server according to an embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a registration procedure by which anunregistered user converts to a registered user, according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a user interface object, referred toherein as a highlighter panel, which enables a user to, among otherthings, highlight text and objects on an internet document, according toan embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a user interface object, referred toherein as a highlighter toolbar, which enables a user to, among otherthings, highlight text and objects on an internet document, according toan embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a user interface object, referred toherein as a collaboration panel, which enables a user to share aninternet document containing user-generated highlights with anotheruser, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of an email with user-generatedhighlights, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 10 through 12 illustrate various user interface features of ahighlighter web portal, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a web page providing a snippet of codefor adding a highlighter roll to a web page, according to an embodimentof the invention; and

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a web page with a user interfaceobject referred to herein as a highlight roll, according to anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to an implementation consistentwith the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughoutthe drawings and the following description to refer to the same or likeparts. Although discussed with reference to these illustrations, thepresent invention is not limited to the implementations illustratedtherein. Hence, the reader should regard these illustrations merely asexamples of embodiments of the present invention, the full scope ofwhich is measured only in terms of the claims following thisdescription. In particular, many of the various aspects and features ofthe invention are most easily understood by those skilled in the artwhen conveyed as user interface features. However, those skilled in theart will appreciate that the user interface elements illustrated anddescribed are examples, and the invention is not to be limited by thoseuser interface features specifically illustrated in the drawings.

Consistent with one embodiment of the invention, a highlighting serviceis provided by a highlighting server, which enables a user to manipulatethe user interface of a web browser application executing at the user'sclient device to selectively highlight the text of an internet documentreceived from a content provider's server. In so doing, any portions oftext highlighted by the user are captured by the highlighter server. Forexample, the portion of text highlighted by the user is communicated tothe highlighter server, where it is stored. Accordingly, the highlighterserver enables a user to easily retrieve the highlighted text at a latertime. In addition, the highlighter server enables a user to annotate andshare the highlighted text, along with the internet document, with otherusers.

The highlighter server enables a user to selectively highlight text viaa conventional web browser interface, for example, by controlling acustomizable cursor with a pointing device (e.g., a mouse, trackball,joystick). The manner in which the user manipulates the user interfaceto selectively highlight text is similar to the way in which a userwould highlight text in any number of conventional text editingapplications. For example, the user may simply press and hold a buttonof a pointing device while manipulating a cursor with the pointingdevice to select a particular portion of text. However, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention and in contrast to conventional textediting applications, the highlighter server enables a user to highlightthe text and graphics of internet documents served from a contentprovider server with the conventional controls and features of a webbrowsing application, without installing any special software. Moreover,any highlights made by the user are communicated in near-real-time tothe highlighter server without any need for any additional userinteraction. Consequently, any highlights the user makes areautomatically saved at the highlighter server and can easily be viewedduring a subsequent web browsing session. In an alternative embodimentof the invention, the highlights could be saved on a local device.

In addition to enabling a user to easily retrieve highlighted portionsof internet documents, the highlighter server facilitates variousmethods of sharing highlighted portions of text with other users. Forinstance, in one embodiment, after a first user has made a highlight toa particular internet document, a subsequent user viewing the samedocument with the highlighting service invoked will optionally be ableto see the first user's highlight(s). Similarly, if multiple userspreviously made highlights to a particular document, a subsequent userwill be able to see all user's highlights. To avoid becoming overwhelmedwith highlights, a user, and/or the system, can configure the settingsof the highlighting service such that only highlights made byuser-selected persons (including oneself), or those persons who are amember of a user-selected and/or system-selected group, are displayed.In yet another aspect, a user may generate and send an email to anotheruser such that the email includes the highlighted portions of textand/or the entire document as highlighted.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variousarchitectures may be used to implement a highlighting service consistentwith the invention described herein. Furthermore, although manyfunctions described herein are attributed to either a client or aserver, those skilled in the art will appreciate that in alternativeembodiments of the invention, a function attributed herein to a server,may in fact be implemented on, or provided by a client device.Similarly, a function described herein as being provided by a client,may be provided by a server in an alternative embodiment of theinvention. Other aspects of the invention will become apparent from thedescriptions of the drawings that follow.

Although the present invention is described herein primarily in thecontext of a highlighting service, those skilled in the art willrecognize a wide variety of other applications that are consistent withthe general spirit of the invention. For instance, consistent withanother embodiment of the invention, a client web browser directs arequest for a document (either directly, or indirectly) to a contentprovider hosting the document. The request may be directed to anintermediate server or intercepted by an intermediate server, which inturn, forwards the document request on to the content provider server.The content provider server sends the requested internet document to theintermediate server where it is modified in some manner “on the fly”.That is, the requested internet document is modified by the intermediateserver in near real time, before it is forwarded on to the requestingclient web browser. Accordingly, the requesting client web browserreceives a modified copy of the requested document, without making anyactual modification to the document stored on the content providerserver. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the requesteddocument is communicated from the intermediate server to the client webbrowser in its original unmodified form, along with a code module. Atthe client web browser, the code module is executed or interpreted,causing the client to modify the original document in some manner.

The modification to the document made by the intermediate server in nearreal time (or the client) may include overlaying an object on thedocument, changing a portion of the document, altering the references ina document, adding an additional element or component to the internetdocument, or alternatively, removing or deleting a portion or element ofthe originally requested document. For example, in one embodiment of theinvention, a portion of the document may be highlighted. In anotherembodiment of the invention, an advertisement may be added or deletedfrom the originally requested document. In yet another embodiment of theinvention, a textual portion of the document may be italicized,underlined, made bold, or have its color changed. In any case, thedocument is being modified by the intermediate server.

System Architecture

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a computer network environmentincluding a highlighter server 10, according to an embodiment of theinvention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the highlighter server 10 iscommunicatively coupled by means of a network 12 to several contentprovider servers (e.g., 14-a and 14-b). In addition, the highlighterserver 10 is communicatively coupled by means of a network 12 to auser's client computer 16. It will be appreciated by those skilled inthe art that the computing environment illustrated in FIG. 1 is but oneexample, and a wide variety of computer and network configurations mightbe used without departing from the spirit of the invention. Forinstance, the user computer, although depicted in FIG. 1 as a desktopcomputer, may be any of a wide variety of computing devices, includingbut not limited to: desktop computer, laptop computer, personal digitalassistant, or mobile handset. Furthermore, although in the examplesprovided herein the highlighter server 10 is shown as a separatecomponent, in one embodiment of the invention the highlighting serviceexecuting on the highlighter server 10 may reside and execute on acontent provider server (e.g., 14-a, or 14-b), or a server under thecontrol of a content provider.

In general, the user utilizes a web browser application on clientcomputer 16 to access and display content in the form of internetdocuments or web pages, which are stored in whole or in part on variouscontent providers (e.g., 14-a and 14-b). In one embodiment of theinvention, a user invokes the highlighter service by prepending theaddress or uniform resource locator (URL) of the highlighter server 10prior to the URL of an internet document that the user is requesting. Inone embodiment of the invention, a bookmarklet, which is a button withassociated code that typically resides on a web browser toolbar,automatically prepends the address of the highlighting server to theaddress of a document, thereby invoking the highlighting service.

Consistent with an embodiment of the invention, once a highlightersession has been invoked, a user has at his or her disposal a variety oftools for highlighting text and objects of an internet document. Forinstance, in one embodiment of the invention, a highlighter tool panelwill appear in the web browser window and provide the user with aselection of controls enabling various features and functions of thehighlighting service. In another embodiment of the invention, variouscontrols may be provided by a highlighter toolbar. In any case, thebasic function of the highlighting service is to enable a user tohighlight an object (e.g., text, graphical images, etc.) of an internetdocument, such that the highlighted portion(s) can easily be recalled ata later time and/or shared with other users. Accordingly, as the userhighlights an object, the highlighted object is communicated to thehighlighter server 10 where it is stored. In one embodiment of theinvention, the highlighted object (e.g., a selection of text) is storedalong with any annotations or comments the user may have added, as wellas a date and time indicating when the highlight was generated. Thehighlighted object and its associated data are stored in such a manneras to be associated with the user who generated the highlight. Thisallows the user to recall and view highlights from previous highlightingsessions. Furthermore, as each highlight is associated with a source(e.g., a person responsible for generating the highlight), users canconfigure the highlighting service to display highlights on a per userbasis. That is, a user may configure the settings of the highlightingservice to display only the highlights of a particular user, or group ofusers. For instance, as described in greater detail below, users maycreate and subscribe to groups. Accordingly, a user may configure thehighlighting service to display highlights on a per group basis, suchthat only highlights from those members of a particular group aredisplayed. Similarly, an embodiment of the invention may enable a userto build out a social network, for example, by specifying who the userconsiders to be direct contacts. Accordingly, the user may configure thehighlighting service to display highlights of all users within theuser's social network, up to a certain degree of separation (e.g., afriend of a friend).

The highlighting service enables the user to generate highlights withconventional web browser controls. For example, in one embodiment of theinvention, the user generates a highlight by simply pressing a button ofa cursor control device (e.g., mouse) and dragging the cursor across anobject before letting up on the button. The highlights generated by auser, according to an embodiment of the invention, are persistent overuser-initiated cursor activity as well as web browsing sessions. Thatis, after making a highlight, each user-generated highlight remains evenafter the user clicks on a different portion of the internet document.Similarly, a user can navigate away from an internet document or webpage on which the user has made a highlight, and the next time the userrevisits the web page, the highlight will be visible so long as the userhas invoked a highlighting session via the highlighting service.

In one embodiment of the invention, the highlighting service is enabledwithout requiring the user to download and install a client-sidesoftware application. That is, the highlighting service is enabled viathe standard functions of the web browser application on the clientside. For instance, in one embodiment of the invention, asynchronousJavaScript and extensible markup language (XML), referred to as Ajax,are used to provide an interactive user experience via a conventionalweb browser application, without the need for downloading and installingany customized software. Alternatively, the highlighting service may beenabled by a browser plug-in or browser extension. For instance, a usermay download and install a software application that when executed,works in conjunction with a web browser application to enhance thefunctionality of the web browser application—in this case, enabling thehighlighting service. In yet another embodiment, the highlightingservice may be enabled by a stand alone software application. That is,the client side functionality of the highlighting service may beattributed to a daemon, or some other stand alone software application.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a data flow diagram showing an example of thedata flow between an end-user's computing device, a highlighter server,and a content provider according to an embodiment of the invention. Asillustrated in FIG. 2, a highlighting session is invoked when, at step1, a user directs an initial request via the user's web browserapplication to the highlighting service hosted by the highlighter server10. The initial request, although directed to the highlighter server 10,includes the address of a desired internet document. For instance, theaddress of the highlighter server 10 may be prepended to the beginningof the address of the requested document such that the request is sentto the highlighter server 10, but includes the address of the desireddocument hosted at the content provider 14-a. For instance, such arequest may be of the form:“http://roohit.com/http://www.news.com/article123.htm”.

Once the highlighter server 10 receives the initial request thehighlighter server 10 analyzes the initial request and extracts theaddress of the requested document. For example, the address extractionlogic 22 (shown in FIG. 4) extracts the address of the requestedinternet document (e.g., “www.news.com/article123.htm”) from the requestreceived by the highlighter server 10 (e.g.,“http://roohit.com/http://www.news.com/article123.htm”). Accordingly, atstep 2, the forwarding logic 22 (shown in FIG. 4) of the highlighterserver 10 forwards the document request to the content provider that ishosting the requested document. At step 3, the content provider respondsby communicating the original requested document to the highlighterserver 10.

Once the highlighter server 10 receives the original document from thecontent provider, the highlighter server 10 analyzes the originaldocument and modifies various object references within the originaldocument. For instance, in one embodiment of the invention, thehighlighter server 10 includes reference modification logic 24 formodifying various references by prepending the highlighter serveraddress to the existing addresses in the reference. Consequently, whenan object is requested, the web browser application will direct arequest to the highlighter server 10 for those objects with modifiedreferences. Finally, at step 4, the modified document is communicatedfrom the highlighter server 10 to the client computer 16.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, when the client computer 16 receives themodified document, it attempts to request the various objects that arereferenced in the document. Accordingly, at step 5, for those objectsstored directly at the content provider, the client computer 16 sendsobject requests to the content provider 14-a. Requests sent directly tothe content provider 14-a are serviced by the content provider 14-a, andat step 6 one or more objects are returned to the client computer 16.For those objects which have had their reference previously modified(e.g., by prepending the address of the highlighter server), the clientcomputer directs one or more object requests to the highlighting service(e.g., at step 7). In turn, at step 8, the highlighting server 10communicates a request for the object to the content provider 14-a. Thecontent provider communicates the object to the highlighting server atstep 9, and finally, at step 10 the object is communicated to the clientcomputer 16 which displays the internet document in a web browserwindow.

Referring again to FIG. 2, if a user requests a document that haspreviously been highlighted (e.g., by the requesting user, or anotheruser), the highlighter server 10 will modify the original document byinserting the necessary object reference to ensure that the highlight(s)are displayed when the document is rendered by the user's web browserapplication. For instance, the reference modification logic 24 of thehighlighter server 10 will modify the object reference in the originaldocument, such that the modified object reference will cause theparticular object (e.g., selection of text) to be highlighted whendisplayed by the web browser application. In another embodiment of theinvention, a portion of executable or interpretable code sent from thehighlighter server 10 to the client enables the client to query thehighlighter server 10. Accordingly, the query is processed by thehighlighting service, and if a particular document has been previouslyhighlighted, the necessary data is sent to the client's web browserapplication to show the highlights. In one embodiment of the invention,the query indicates the URL of the currently displayed document. Thehighlighting service determines whether the URL is associated with anypreviously generated user highlights. If so, the highlighting servicedetermines if the current user (e.g., the user viewing the document) hasconfigured the highlight filtering mechanisms to display any of thepreviously generated user highlights. If the user has optionallyselected to view highlights from one or more users who have previouslygenerated a highlight on the currently displayed page, then thehighlighting service will communicate the appropriate information to theclient so that the highlight will be displayed.

FIG. 4 illustrates a logical block diagram showing an example of thelogical components of a highlighter server 10 according to an embodimentof the invention. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the highlighter server 10includes network and communications logic 20 for communicating data withvarious other computing devices, including client computers and contentprovider servers. In one embodiment of the invention, the network andcommunication logic 20 implements the necessary network andcommunication protocols, such as transfer control protocol and theinternet protocol (TCP/IP) for sending and receiving data over anetwork, such as the public Internet. A variety of other well knowncommunication and networking protocols may be used in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

In one embodiment of the invention, the highlighter server 10 includesaddress extraction and forwarding logic 22 as well as referencemodification logic 24. As described above, when the highlighter server10 receives a request for a document hosted by another content provider,the address extraction and forwarding logic 22 extracts the documentaddress of the requested document from the initial request received atthe highlighter server 10, and then forwards the extracted documentaddress to the proper content provider 14. Similarly, the referencemodification logic 24 modifies object references in original documentsreceived from content provider servers prior to sending the objectreferences in the modified document to the client computer. Objectreferences are modified, for example, to ensure that certain objectrequests are directed to the highlighter server, and other requests aredirected directly to the content provider.

In one embodiment of the invention, the highlighter server 10 includespage caching logic 31. Accordingly, when a client requests a documenthosted at a content provider, the highlighter server 10 may check itscache to determine if the highlighter server 10 has a current copy ofthe document stored locally. If so, the highlighter server 10 does notneed to forward the request to the content provider, but instead, thehighlighter server 10 can retrieve and serve the document from itscache.

In one embodiment of the invention, the highlighter server 10 includesuser account registration logic 26. As described in greater detailbelow, in one embodiment of the invention, a user can access and use thehighlighting service in one of two modes—as a registered user, or as anunregistered user. As an unregistered user, the user is not prompted toenter or provide any personal information or set-up a username and/orpassword. The highlighting service allows unregistered users to save andshare highlights. However, if an unregistered user would like to becomea registered user, the user account registration logic 26 facilitatesthe generation of a user account while preserving all previouslygenerated highlights. That is, the highlight service will merge anunregistered user's data into a registered account, thereby preservingany configuration settings and highlights the user made as anunregistered user.

In one embodiment of the invention, the highlighter server 10 includespage saving logic 28 and unique URL generating logic 30. In certainsituations, a user may desire to save a copy of an internet document.For instance, many internet documents—such as web pages on news sites,and blogs—are dynamic and constantly changing. Accordingly, a user maywant to highlight a portion of an internet document and then save a copyof the entire page, for example, to share with another user or group ofusers. The page saving logic 28 enables a user to save a copy of anentire page. The unique URL generating logic 30 generates a unique URLto associate with the saved page. Therefore, to share an internetdocument that has been saved by the highlighting service, a user canshare the unique URL generated by the unique URL generating logic 30 andassociated with the saved page.

When a highlight is made on a page that tends to be dynamic (e.g.,changes frequently)—for example, such as a blog site, or a newssite—highlight insertion logic 29 analyzes the content of the page todetermine if, and where, a previously made highlight is to be inserted.For example, as new blog entries are posted to a blog site, therebyforcing old entries to appear positioned lower on the web page, thehighlight insertion logic 29 intelligently analyzes the web page todetermine where to position a previously made highlight.

In one embodiment of the invention, users can display and viewhighlights on a per user and/or a per group basis. Accordingly, thehighlighting server 10 includes user and group subscription logic 32 tomanage the creation of, and subscription to, user—as well assystem-defined groups. For instance, a web-based interface to thehighlighting service may provide a user with an option to create agroup, and invite others to join the group. Similarly, a user may searchfor and join previously created groups. The group subscription logic 32facilitates and manages such tasks. Once a member has subscribed to aparticular group, the member can configure the highlighting service todisplay highlights from all members of the group. In one embodiment, auser may subscribe to receive emails embedded with new highlights fromusers in a particular group. Accordingly, the user may subscribe toreceive emails on a real-time basis showing all new highlights as theyare made by users. Alternatively, a user may subscribe to receive adaily, weekly, or some other time period, email summary showing relevanthighlights for that time period.

In one embodiment of the invention, the highlighting server 10 includesa web server module 34. The web server module 34 not only servesdocuments that have been forwarded from other content providers, but theweb server module 20 also provides an administrative interface toadministrators of the highlighter server 10, and a user interface tovarious features provided by the highlighter server 10. For example, inone embodiment of the invention the web server component 34, inconjunction with the administrative interface logic 38 facilitatesweb-based administration and configuration of the highlighter server 10.Similarly, the web server component 34, in conjunction with the userinterface logic 36, facilitates web-based configuration and setup ofvarious features of the highlighting services provided by thehighlighter server 10. A storage device stores internet documents 44associated with the user interface logic 36 and administrative interfacelogic 38 provided by the web server module 34.

In one embodiment of the invention, the highlighter server 10 includesdatabase management logic 40 for managing a data repository.Accordingly, as the highlighter server 10 receives portions of text andimages from internet documents as such portions are highlighted byusers, the database management logic 40 stores the highlights in adatabase 42. Similarly, the database management logic 40 recalls thehighlights from the database 42, and provides the associated data to theweb server module 34 so that the document can be manipulated (either atthe server or at the client) in a manner that will display highlightswhen the document is rendered by a client's web browser.

In one embodiment of the invention, the highlighter server 10 includesan email server 39. Accordingly, the email server 39 facilitates thegeneration and sending of emails by users. For example, via one or moreuser interface objects, a user may be prompted to enter or select anemail address in order to send a copy of a currently displayed internetdocument—including any user-generated highlights—to another user. Theemail server not only facilitates the sending of the email, but also thegeneration of the email and the formatting of any highlighted objects.Accordingly, an email recipient will receive an email with an embeddedinternet document showing any user generated highlights made by theuser. The recipient need not download any special software in order toview the sent internet document and associated highlights.

Another component of the highlighter server 10 is a search server 41. Inone embodiment of the invention, the highlighter server 10 provides asearch interface where users can search for relevant internet documentsand highlights. For example, a user may perform a keyword search, wherethe keyword is searched for in a portion of an internet document thathas been previously highlighted by a user, or within an annotation orcomments section associated with a particular highlight. The searchserver 41 may facilitate searches by user or by group, such that a usercan enter the name or email address of a particular user as a searchparameter. Furthermore, a user may search for content based on tags—auser-assigned, relevant keyword or term associated with or assigned to apiece of information, like a picture, article, or video clip, thusdescribing the item. Other aspects of the various search features aredescribed in greater detail in related, co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/766,669, entitled, “Method and System forDetermining the Significance and Relevance of an Internet Document, or aPortion. Thereof”, filed on Jun. 21, 2007, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

One embodiment of the highlighter server 10 includes an applicationprogramming interface (API) module 37. In various configurations of thehighlighting server, the API module provides a common interface forcommunicating messages with third-party add-ons, as well as softwareagents. For example, in one embodiment of the invention, a third-partysearch engine may communicate API messages to the highlighter server,requesting information about various documents. Accordingly, the searchengine may utilize an API to communicate those messages with thehighlighter server 10. Similarly, third-party tools and applicationsthat utilize highlights, and the wide variety of information and dataassociated with highlights, may make requests of the highlighting server10 via the API module 37.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various alternativecomponents and logic may be included in a particular implementation ofthe highlighter server 10, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

User Registration

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a registration procedure by which anunregistered user 50 converts to a registered user 52, according to anembodiment of the invention. Advantageously, users need not download andinstall any customized software on a client computer in order toestablish a highlighting session via the highlighter server 10. Forinstance, in one embodiment of the invention, asynchronous JavaScriptand extensible markup language (XML), referred to as Ajax, are used toprovide an interactive user experience via a conventional web browserapplication, without the need for downloading and permanently installingany customized software. Moreover, in one embodiment of the invention, auser need not register with the service, or establish a user account, inorder to use the highlighting service. When a user has not registeredwith the service, a unique identifier 52 is sent from the highlighterserver 10 to the client 16 executing the web browser application. Theunique identifier, for example, may be an HTTP cookie that uniquelyidentifies the user. Accordingly, when a user selects a portion of aninternet document with a highlighter cursor during a highlightingsession, that portion of the document highlighted by the user iscommunicated to the highlighter server, associated with the uniqueidentifier, and then stored at the highlighter server 10 (e.g., as userdata 54 in FIG. 5). If, during a subsequent browsing session, a requestis made for the same document, and the request includes the user'sunique identifier, the highlighter server 10 will associate thehighlighted portion of text with the unique identifier and manipulatethe requested document to cause the highlight(s) to appear when thedocument is displayed in the user's web browser window. If a userdecides to register with the highlighting service, the unique identifier(e.g. the HTTP cookie) is associated with a new human readableidentifier, such as a user-selected username and password, and allpreviously generated highlights will be preserved and transferred to theuser's registered account, as illustrated by user data 56 in FIG. 5

User Interface (Highlighter Panel/Toolbar/Collaboration Panel)

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a user interface object, referred toherein as a highlighter tool panel 60, which enables a user to, amongother things, highlight text and objects on an internet document,according to an embodiment of the invention. According to one embodimentof the invention, the highlighter tool panel 60 appears as a separatewindow within the browser display window, and may have a variety ofdisplay modes. For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the highlightertool panel 60 is in maximized display mode and all controls are visible.In addition to a maximized mode, the highlighter tool panel 60 may alsohave a minimized mode. In the minimized mode, a subset of the controlsmay be accessible. As with conventional graphical user interfacewindows, a set of buttons 62 at the top of the window provide amechanism for switching between maximized and minimized modes, andclosing the tool panel window. In one embodiment of the invention, thehighlighter panel may even have an invisible mode.

In one embodiment of the invention, the tool panel 60 includes anaddress bar 64 which provides a separate mechanism for navigating theWorld Wide Web and displaying internet documents hosted by differentcontent providers. For instance, by typing an address in the text entrybox of the address bar 64 displayed in the highlighter tool panel 60 andselecting the “GO” button, a user can download and display an internetdocument associated with the address entered. Note that the addressentered in the text entry box need not include a reference to thehighlighting service. The entered address will automatically bemanipulated to invoke the highlighting service. If, for instance, anadditional address needs to be prepended to the address entered by theuser in order to invoke the highlighting service with the requestedinternet document, the tool panel 60 will automatically manipulate theaddress accordingly.

In addition to an address bar 64, in one embodiment of the invention thehighlighter tool panel 60 includes an email address bar 66 where a usercan enter an email address and share the currently displayed document,including any user-generated highlights in the document, with anotheruser. For example, the email address bar 66 enables a user to enter oneor more email addresses, and then select the “SEND” button to instantlysend an email of the currently displayed internet document. If thecurrently displayed document includes user-generated highlights (e.g.,highlighted text 80 and 82) those highlights will be displayed with thedocument in the email. Advantageously, the internet document (includingany highlights) is embedded within an email such that the user need notinstall any special software in order to view the document and anyincluded highlights.

In one embodiment of the invention, the highlighter toot panel 60includes a text entry box for adding a user to a list of users whosehighlights can be selectively toggled on or off. For instance, byinputting an email address (e.g., Jane_doe@yahoo.com) or username ofanother user in a text box, and pressing the add button 67, the user canbe added to a list of users and groups 76 whose highlights can beselectively shown or hidden. Adding a user in this manner may also addthe user to one or more drop down menus, selection boxes, or scrollwindows (e.g., scroll window 98 in FIG. 8) used for quickly addressingemails.

A variety of other controls may be included with the highlighter toolpanel 60 according to an embodiment of the invention. For example, inone embodiment of the invention, the tool panel 60 includes a button(e.g., the “PUT PEN DOWN” button 68) that toggles the cursor between astandard cursor, and a highlighter pen cursor. When the active cursor isin highlighter pen mode, for example, the highlighting tool is active.This enables a user to select text or an object using a click and dragmethod, by which a user simply selects an object to highlight bydragging across an object while depressing a cursor control (e.g.,mouse) button. When the active cursor is not in highlighting mode, auser may select an object (e.g., a portion of text or an image) and thenpress a button (not shown) to generate a highlight of the selected text.In one embodiment of the invention, the tool panel 60 includes a buttonor link (e.g., the “PAST HiLites” button 70 in FIG. 6) that causes theweb browser application to display a web page containing a list of pasthighlights made by the user. The list of past highlights may include asummary or excerpt from the previous highlights as well as a link to thefull document from which the highlights are from. In addition, the pasthighlights web page may show additional information about eachhighlight, including but not limited to: the time and date the highlightwas generated, the number of people that have viewed or selected thehighlight, the address of persons with whom the user has shared thehighlight, the number of other users who have highlighted the object,and/or annotations made by the user.

In one embodiment of the invention, a color palette 72 is included withthe tool panel 60. By selecting a color from the color palette, the usercan manipulate the color of the active highlighter cursor, andultimately the color of any highlights the user makes. This provideseach user with the ability to create customized highlight color codingschemes. Accordingly, a user may mark-up different sections of aninternet document with different colors, such that each different colorindicates additional information about the highlighted text. Forinstance, green highlighted text may support a particular proposition orindicate a positive treatment of a particular subject, while redhighlighted text may indicate a negative treatment of the same subject.Those skilled in the art will appreciate the wide variety ofuser-customized color coding schemes that might be implemented accordingto an embodiment of the invention.

In one embodiment of the invention, the highlighter tool panel 60includes a user/group filtering mechanism 74 which enables a user toselect whose highlights should be displayed in a particular internetdocument on a per user or per group basis. For instance, referring againto FIG. 6, by selecting the “SHOW GROUP 1 HiLites” box in the tool panel60, all highlights made by members of “GROUP 1” will be displayed to theuser in the currently displayed internet document. Similarly, byselecting the “SHOW JANE DOE's HiLites” box, the user can control thedisplay of highlights such that Jane Doe's highlights are also shown inthe presently displayed document. Furthermore, in one embodiment of theinvention, the filtering mechanism can be configured on a per documentand/or per domain basis, such that a user can specify whose highlightsthe user would like to see when viewing particular documents, ordocuments from particular domains.

In one embodiment of the invention, the highlighter tool panel 60includes a configuration setting that enables the user to displayhighlights that represent the consolidation of all user-generatedhighlights on a page. For example, when the check box illustrated inFIG. 6 next to the option “SHOW CONSOLIDATED COLOR INTENSITY SPECTRUM”with reference 77 is checked, the highlighting service will analyze allof the user-generated highlights associated with a particular internetdocument or web page. Rather than show individual highlights, thehighlighting service causes portions of the interact document to behighlighted in particular colors that represent the frequency with whichthat portion of the document has been highlighted. For example, when thecheck box 77 is selected, a portion of the document that has beenhighlighted by many users may be shown in red. Accordingly, under thisscenario, a red highlight on a particular object indicates that theparticular object has been highlighted by many users. A less frequentlyhighlighted portion of the document may be highlighted in another color.In another embodiment, the particular shade of the color may indicatedthe frequency with which the portion of the document has beenhighlighted. In one embodiment of the invention, enabling the colorintensity spectrum view of highlights automatically disables theuser/group view of highlights. That is, when viewing highlights in thecolor intensity spectrum mode, user level highlights and/or group levelhighlights may not be shown.

Many of the configuration settings illustrated in FIG. 6 may also beaccessed and adjusted via a highlighter web portal. For example, thehighlighting service provides a web-based user interface where users canset certain configuration parameters to default settings. Accordingly,when a user invokes the highlighting service without the highlightertool panel, any configuration settings previously established via thehighlighter web portal will be active by default.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a user interface object, referred toherein as a highlighter toolbar 78, which enables a user to, among otherthings, highlight text and objects on an internet document, according toan embodiment of the invention. Similar to the highlighter tool panel 60illustrated in FIG. 6, the highlighter toolbar 78 is a user interfaceobject that provides a variety of controls and features associated withthe highlighting service. In one embodiment of the invention, thehighlighter toolbar includes the control objects described above inconnection with the highlighter tool panel 60, including but not limitedto: an address bar for navigating, an email address bar for sharing thecurrently displayed document with any user-generated highlights, abutton to toggle the active highlighter cursor on and off, a button toaccess previously generated highlights, a button to access previouslysaved pages, a color palette to change the color of highlights, and amechanism for selecting and filtering the highlights that are displayedon an internet document on a per user or per group basis. In addition,in one embodiment of the invention, the toolbar may include third-partytools. For example, the toolbar may provide one or more control objectsenabling the user to quickly and easily gain access to a third-partytool, service, or application.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a user interface object, referred toherein as a collaboration panel 90, which enables a user to share aninternet document containing user-generated highlights with anotheruser, according to an embodiment of the invention. As illustrated inFIG. 8, in one embodiment of the invention the collaboration panel 90 isa mouseover window or box that appears when a user moves the highlightercursor 92 over a particular highlight 80 in the currently displayedinternet document. The collaboration panel 90 includes a text entry box94 where a user can provide a comment about the particular highlightedobject. In addition, the collaboration panel 90 includes an emailaddress bar 96 where the user can enter one or more email addresses.Also, the collaboration panel includes a scroll window 98 with a list ofother users and groups with whom the user may be associated. By checkinga box, or otherwise selecting another user or group, the user canquickly address an email to the user or group. After selecting and/orentering the names of those persons/groups to receive an email, the usersimply selects the “SEND” button 100 to send a copy of the currentlydisplayed internet document, including any highlighted objects (e.g.,highlights 80 and 82), embedded within an email. In one embodiment ofthe invention, the email server 39 of the highlighter server 10 willgenerate and send the email to the selected recipients. Accordingly, therecipient of such an email will be able to view the entire internetdocument including any highlights without downloading any additionalsoftware and/or requesting any additional internet documents. In analternative embodiment of the invention, a link to a highlighteddocument may be provided in the email.

In one embodiment of the invention, the collaboration panel alsoprovides a view of any comments that a user may have entered about aparticular highlight. For instance, if a user sends a comment to anotheruser, the other user may view the comment by simply putting thehighlighter cursor over the highlight. If more than one comment isassociated with a particular highlight, the comments will be displayedin order such that a user can follow along with a virtual conversationbased on an exchange of comments. Just as a user may filter thehighlights that are displayed, in one embodiment of the invention,comments may optionally be filtered so that a user only sees commentsfrom particular users, or groups, of interest.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of an email with user-generatedhighlights, according to an embodiment of the invention. As illustratedin FIG. 9, an email generated and sent via the collaboration panelincludes a header portion 106 where the comment 108 that was entered inthe text box 94 of the collaboration panel 90 is displayed. Thisprovides the recipient of the email with additional information andcontext as to what is relevant about the document as a whole, and thehighlight 80 in particular.

In one embodiment of the invention, the header portion 106 of the emailalso includes an address bar 110, where a user can enter the address orURL of a web site or document, and begin a highlighting session. Forinstance, by entering a URL in the address bar 110 of the email, andthen pressing the “START HiLiting” button 112, a web browser window willopen and the requested document will be displayed along with ahighlighter tool panel 90.

Highlighter Web Portal

FIG. 10 illustrates a top level page (e.g. a home page) for ahighlighter web portal, according to an embodiment of the invention. Asillustrated in FIG. 10, in one embodiment of the invention, the homepage of a highlighter web portal includes a text entry box 114 where auser can enter a URL or document address to begin a highlightingsession. For example, by simply typing in the address of an internetdocument in the text entry box 114 and then pressing the “STARTHiLiting” button, a user invokes a highlighting session with thedocument corresponding with the address entered.

FIG. 11 illustrates a contact management page of a highlighter service,according to an embodiment of the invention. As illustrated in FIG. 11,in one embodiment of the invention, the highlighting service includes acontacts list where a user can enter and maintain personal and/orbusiness contact information. In one embodiment, as a user shareshighlights via email, the email addresses of the recipients willautomatically be saved into the user's contact list. In addition, asusers are added as contacts, the email addresses of those users willautomatically populate certain user interface objects, such as thescroll window 98 in FIG. 8.

In one embodiment of the invention, the contact management interface mayalso provide a mechanism for users to build out or define a socialnetwork. For example, a user may specify which contacts to include inhis or her social network. Accordingly, several of the featuresdescribed herein may be configured on the basis of one's social network.For example, a user may select to see all highlights from any memberwithin his social network.

FIG. 12 illustrates a HiLites summary page, according to an embodimentof the invention. In one embodiment of the invention, a highlighter webportal provides the user with easy access to a list of all previouslygenerated highlights of a particular user (including oneself). Inaddition to showing a thumbnail 115 of the document which the highlightsare from, the list also includes a variety of icons enabling the user totake several actions in connection with a selected highlight, or acomment associated with a highlight. For instance, a user may rank orrate a highlight, a comment, and/or an internet document containing ahighlight or comment. In one embodiment, a user may select a link to seemore highlights or comments from a particular user. In addition, theuser may select a button or link enabling the user to subscribe to aparticular user's highlighting activities. Accordingly, as theparticular user makes new highlights, a copy of such highlights and/orthe internet document containing the highlights may be sent to the userin real-time, or on a predetermined or user-configured periodicschedule.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a web page providing a snippet of code120 for adding a user interface object, referred to herein as ahighlighter roll, to a third-party web page, according to an embodimentof the invention. The snippet of code shown in FIG. 13 can easily beadded to another web page by copying and pasting the code. Thehighlighter roll, once embedded in another web page, will displayhighlights of a particular user. The code snippet 120 is generatedautomatically in response to user-specified parameters 122 that areprovided at one or more user interface input mechanisms (e.g., drop downlists, text entry boxes, and so on). Accordingly, the highlighter rollcan be configured to show a particular number of previous highlights,scroll highlights up or down, scroll at variable speeds, and display thehighlights in various user-selected formats. In one embodiment of theinvention, the highlighter roll may query the highlighting service toreceive a predetermined number of the most recent highlights by a user,by a group, or by everyone, or based on a particular topic, or by agrouping of particular websites or URLs. By inputting variousconfiguration parameters, a user can display a preview of what thehighlighter roll will look like when embedded in a third-party web page.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a web page with a user interfaceobject referred to herein as a highlight roll 126, according to anembodiment of the invention. As described in connection with FIG. 13,the code for displaying a highlight roll 126 may be automaticallygenerated by a highlighting service web portal, such that a blogger oranother web author can easily copy and paste the code into his or herown web page, thereby adding the highlight roll 126 to his or her webpage and enabling the display of user-generated highlights. Asillustrated in FIG. 14, the highlight roll has a title, “JANE DOE'SHIGHLIGHTS:” as well as a text box 126 where highlights are displayed.The title is easily configurable by providing a configuration parameteras described in connection with FIG. 13. In various embodiments of theinvention, multiple highlights may scroll up or down in the text box. Inone embodiment of the invention, the highlights will automatically anddynamically update as a user continues to highlight new objects on newinternet documents. Accordingly, a highlight roll 126 provides anexcellent means of displaying a user's recent web activity, to theextent that a user's highlighting activity represents his or her webactivity. A highlight roll may be particularly useful on bloggingwebsites, but also on news websites, corporate websites, socialnetworking websites, and others.

In one embodiment of the invention, a query is used to select theparticular highlights from a highlighting service that are to bedisplayed in a highlight roll. Accordingly, the selection parameters forthe query may be configured by a user, such that a wide variety ofhighlight characteristics can be used to select the particularhighlights to be displayed in a highlight roll. In one embodiment of theinvention, a highlight roll may be configured to display highlights froma particular user, or group of users. In another embodiment, thehighlight roll may be configured to randomly query the highlightingservice for user-generated highlights. In yet another embodiment, thehighlight roll may be configured to query the highlighting service forhighlights that were made on a particular internet document, website, orgroup of websites. In another embodiment of the invention, the highlightroll may be configured to query the highlighting service for highlightsthat contain a particular key word or words. In yet another embodiment,the highlight roll may be configured to query the highlighting servicefor highlights of images.

In one embodiment of the invention, a highlight roll may be used on ablog website. For example, a blogger may use a highlight roll to enhancethe content on his or her blog site. Alternatively, the highlight rollmay take the place of a blog altogether. For example, by displaying ahighlight roll in place of a blog, a user may author blog entries bysimply highlighting portions of other internet documents, and thenproviding comments about the highlighted portions of the document. Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that a highlight roll may be used inother contexts not specifically addressed herein.

The foregoing description of various implementations of the inventionhas been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It isnot exhaustive and does not limit the invention to the precise form orforms disclosed. Furthermore, it will be appreciated by those skilled inthe art that the present invention may find practical application in avariety of alternative contexts that have not explicitly been addressedherein. Finally, the illustrative processing steps performed by acomputer-implemented program (e.g., instructions) may be executedsimultaneously, or in a different order than described above, andadditional processing steps may be incorporated. The invention may beimplemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Whenimplemented partly in software, the invention may be embodied as a setof instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. The scope of theinvention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: generating, at a serverand automatically in response to user-specified parameters provided viaone or more user interface input mechanisms, a code snippet for a userinterface object to be embedded in a first web page, the code snippetconfigured to query a highlighting service associated with the serverfor user-generated highlights of content from other web pages made byone or more visitors to the other web pages and to display thehighlights within the user interface object; following embedding, inresponse to user-specified action, of the code snippet in the first webpage, the code snippet periodically querying the highlighting servicefor said user-generated highlights; and upon receiving the highlights ofcontent, displaying the highlights of content in the user interfaceobject embedded in the first web page, said displaying being in abrowser of a computer system.
 2. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein, in addition to the user-generated highlights, the userinterface object displays information associated with the user-generatedhighlights, a URL highlights were made on, and/or users who generatedthe highlights.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinthe code snippet is configured to query the highlighting service foruser- generated highlights that satisfy specific parameters, and theuser interface object is configured to display user-generated highlightsand/or associated objects having characteristics that satisfy thespecific parameters.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3,wherein the specific parameters include any of the following: aparameter indicating the source of the highlight; a parameter indicatinga rating associated with a highlight; a parameter indicating apopularity level of a highlight: a parameter indicating how frequently ahighlight has been emailed; a parameter indicating a domain from which adocument including the highlight is from; a parameter indicating who hasmade comments on the highlight, on the document the highlight is from,or the domain the highlight came from; and/or a parameter indicating alevel of privacy associated with a highlight.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the user-generatedhighlights as displayed by the user interface object are links, therebyenabling a user to retrieve a document associated with a highlight byselecting a particular user-generated highlight.
 6. The user interfaceobject of claim 1, wherein the user interface object displays one ormore links to information associated with a user-generated highlight, adocument containing a user-generated highlight, or a user who made auser-generated highlight.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein display characteristics of the user interface object areuser-configurable from a web page.
 8. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the code snippet that queries the highlighting servicefor user-generated highlights is user-configurable from a web page. 9.The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the first web pageon which the user interface object is displayed is hosted on a firstserver different the a second server hosting the web page.
 10. Acomputer-implemented method, comprising: presenting a first web site forconfiguring, through user-specified parameters, a user interface objectto be displayed on a web page of a second web site, the user interfaceobject i) having associated code that queries a highlighting service foruser-generated highlights associated with web pages other than the webpage for configuring and the web page of the second web site, and ii)being configured to display the user-generated highlights within thesecond webpage; receiving the user-specified parameters and configuringthe code for the user interface object accordingly; and followingembedding of the user interface object in the web page of the second website, the code periodically querying the highlighting service for saiduser-generated highlights, and upon receiving the highlights. displayingthe highlights in the user interface object.
 11. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein, in addition to beingconfigured to display the user-generated highlights within the secondweb page, the user interface object is configured to display informationassociated with the user-generated highlights, the URL the highlightswere made on, and/or the users who generated the highlights.
 12. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein presenting a first website for configuring a user interface object to be displayed on a webpage of a second web site includes enabling configuration of the userinterface object without having to edit any code hosted at the secondweb site.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein thefirst web site provides a mechanism by which a user can establish searchparameters for use by the code that queries the highlighting service foruser-generated highlights.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim13, wherein the search parameters include: source of a highlight, rangeof time during which a highlight was made, origin of document where thehighlight was made, highlight containing specific keywords, privacylevels, comments sources, total number of highlights to be selected fordisplay and/or minimum or maximum rating associated with a highlight.15. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the first website provides a mechanism by which a user can configure displayparameters that determine the display characteristics of the userinterface object, user-generated highlights and/or associated datadisplayed by the user interface object.